Help for disease-stricken community

After a medical outreach team visited Kwaita in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the traditional ruler Abuhumudi Garba and his people have heaved a sigh of relief. TONY AKOWE reports how the Buhari Support Organisation tackled River Blindness and other ailments in the community

They were simply at the mercy of diseases. Their main source of water is a well or a stream. The community borehole has since packed up. Any surprises that residents of Kwaita, a community in the Federal Capital Territory, are afflicted with River Blindness and other diseases?

Help has come. A staff of the Buhari Support Organisation, Aisha Ojene Abu, who initiated the medical mission, said she and her colleagues saw a Channels TV documentary on the plight of Kwaita and decided to intervene.

They visited on a market day and set up their stand at the palace of the community leader.

She said, “We watched this documentary on Channels Television where they reported that Kwaita community is impoverished and they suffer from River Blindness. So, we thought of a way of lending a helping hand by giving them drugs. That is what brought up this idea. We are conducting various tests; the doctors do the diagnosis while the pharmacists dispense the drugs”.

Speaking further, she said the mission was “different from the normal rallies that we are used to. We are impacting directly on the lives of the individuals and to achieve the sixth goal of the MDGs. We intend to reduce the prevalence of malaria and other diseases in this community. We realised that they have a stream which is the point of infection. The aim of this programme is to reduce these diseases and make them better people”.

Head of the medical mission, Dr. Maina Elijah, a general surgeon, told The Nation that they came to “to support the people who have been having the problem of River Blindness and other ailments. Because of the changes General Buhari wants to bring when he comes to power, he has encouraged his support organisation to come and provide free medical aid to the people of this community. This is a small step in a bigger project regarding the changes General Buhari wants to bring when he comes into power. The people here are very appreciative of this gesture. They have been receiving consultations and been given drugs completely free and I think this is something laudable. I think this will continue on a larger scale when General Buhari comes to power.”

•Patients wait for their turn

Dr Elijah said further that they are “expecting between 100 and 200 people to benefit from this. Today is a market day here and we have already had quite a number of people coming for consultation. In addition to the diseases I have mentioned, we have been able to get some drugs like anti-malarial and others drugs which we will leave behind for them to use. This is just to prove a little point about what the health sector will be like when General Buhari comes into power.”

He said further that the team has identified two cases of River Blindness among those attended to and “we have been able to give them the relevant drugs for it. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to see everybody. Like we said, this is just a pilot project. At the end of the day, when we have the resources and Buhari gets into government, we will do even bigger projects. There is going to be a lot of improvement in the health sector. A lot of money has been spent on medical tourism abroad and we have to stop that”.

Why did the team decide to use the palace instead of the health centre in the community?

He said, “The health centre is a small place and we chose to use the palace for logistical reasons. First, it is near the palace and today is a market day and with the permission of the traditional ruler, we have been able to use his palace here”.

Head of Media of the Buhari Support Organisation, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe also told The Nation that they embarked on the medical mission to create some sensitisation and awareness on the need for people to seek western Medicare as a platform to redress maladjustment in their health status.

“This is just a pilot project which is starting today in one of the 774 local government areas in the country,” Dr, Maduekwe said. “We are starting it with the hope that when the General assumes power, the leadership of this country will do a national launch of this programme of reaching the unreachable on the platform of the Buhari Support Organisation. Today is a day that marks that one step of the journey of a thousand miles”.

Where is the money for the project coming from?

“We are running a volunteer-based organisation,” he said. “From the money we realised from those who have volunteered to support Buhari candidacy, we have decided to put a part of it into this aspect of health care. That is the source of the money and it is devolving the same benefit back to the people in the area of health care. I am aware that not too long ago, the President of the Nigeria Medical Association said that none of the presidential candidates has said anything about health. I want to say that we have been saying something about health.

“We realised that most illnesses could be prevented. So, when government is investing money on curative approach to healthcare, something is wrong with that health care system. So, we are going to concentrate of preventive health care which will involve provision of potable water because health and water work hand in hand. Most of the diseases are water-borne. So, if you don’t have potable water for the people, you end up creating more diseases.”

Some of the beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the medical team for the assistance. Abubakar A. Abubakar, who claimed to have come to Kwaita from Bosso in Niger State, was full of praises for the team for coming to their aid and giving the drugs free and called on the government to emulate them.

For Mary Alayi, medical team was a godsend. Even though she was yet to be attended to when she spoke, Mary who said she was suffering from diabetes said, “We thank them for what they have brought to us. It is of great help to us. Many people heard about it and they came here and we are very grateful”.

An elderly woman said, “I have seen drugs and I am going home happy. They have given me drugs for ulcer. I pray that God will grant them their heart’s desires. I want to appeal to others to come forward to receive this same treatment.”

The Village head of Kwaita Hausa whose palace was used for the exercise, said “I am very happy for the drugs they brought to us. I have never seen this kind of thing before. I pray to God to let the person that will help Nigerians win the forthcoming elections. The person that has done this, may God help that person. You have seen the crowd of people here. Nobody has gone out to call them. They are just coming on their own”.

Hajia Zainab Akilu who heads the mobilisation team of the Buhari Support Organisation said, “This wind of change that is going on is amazing. These young medical personnel have volunteered on their own and this is inspired by the integrity of the person of General Buhari and they are doing this out of inspiration and the value they attached to his person”.